Argus Issues a Downgrade for Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) from a “Buy” to “Hold” Rating

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Receives a Downgrade

Argus cut the rating for shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) to a”Hold” from a “Buy”. This rather important rating change was sent to investors in a very recent research note earlier today.

From a total of 24 analysts covering Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE:CMG) stock, 18 rate it a ”Buy”, 0 a “Sell”, and 13 a ”Hold”. This means that 58% of the ratings are positive. The highest target price is $730 while the lowest target price is $450. The mean of all analyst targets is $579.5 with a 12.51% above today’s ($566.23) stock price. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. was the topic of 45 analyst reports since July 22, 2015 according to the firm StockzIntelligence Inc. Credit Agricole initiated shares on December 9 with “Buy” rating. Maxim Group maintained shares with “Hold” rating and $495 target share price in a report from a December 7. Suntrust Robinson maintained CMG stock in a recent report from December 7 with “Buy” rating. Wedbush maintained the rating on December 7. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $500 price target on shares. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group maintained the stock with “Outperform” rating in a report issued on a December 7.

Approximately 1.18 million shares of stock traded hands. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) has declined 9.21% since May 8, 2015 and is downtrending. It has underperformed by 6.19% the S&P500.

The overall sentiment of institutions has increased to 1 in Q2 2015. Its up 0.04, from 0.96 in 2015Q2. The ratio increased, as 62 institutions have sold all the shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. that they owned while 178 funds have taken shares off the table. 59 funds have purchased shares for the first time while 181 added to their positions. These institutions now hold 40.13 million shares or 40.64% more than the 28.53 million shares they owned in 2015Q2.

The Fund Csat Investment Advisory L.P. currently is holding shares equating to 5.74% of its total portfolio in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. representing a total of 9,078 shares. Another fund,Windward Capital Management Co Ca, is holding a total of 26,023 shares equating to 5.11% of their holdings. Additionally, Cim Llc has a 13,258 share stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. which represents 4.82% of their total portfolio. The Fund, Hhr Asset Management Llc, based out of New Jersey, has also built up a stake in the stock, which represents a total of 4.66% of their total portfolio. Finally Maryland Capital Management, a fund which is based in the state of Maryland reported a total holdings of 34,524 shares.

Insider activity is a very important aspect to track on any stock. Going back to March 17, 2015, shareholders of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. have witnessed 0 buys, and a total of 11 sales equating to a net activity of approximately $41.52 million . Charlesworth John S sold 2,000 shares worth approximately $1.50 million. Crumpacker Mark sold 998 shares worth approximately $729,817. Hartung Jack sold 2,485 shares worth approximately $1.84M. Friedman Darlene J sold 1,379 shares worth approximately $1.01M. The company insider Ells Steve sold 10,090 shares worth $6.98M.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. develops and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants, which serve a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads. The company has a market cap of $17.86 billion. The Firm operates 1,755 restaurants in the United States, seven in Canada, six in England, three in France, and one in Germany. It has 33.77 P/E ratio. The Company’s restaurants also include nine ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen restaurants.

According to Zacks Investment Research, “Chipotle offers a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bols and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere. Through its vision of Food with Integrity, Chipotle is seeking better food not only from a variety of fresh ingredients, but ingredients that are sustainably grown and naturally raised with respect for the animals, the land, and the farmers who produce the food.” Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG).